Buying a new camera

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meehaja

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James
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I fancy having a dabble with film again, having not touched it for 10 years or so, now I understand a bit about cameras I'd like to give it a go again!

I've got a few older nikon lenses, a 50mm and a 75-300 which both have aperture rings, so logic says, get an old Nikon SLR for not too much and I'm good to go.

However, I love the look of tatty old soviet era cameras, and given that I have an DSLR, another SLR might not make much of a difference. Are they all a bit crap, is there anything I should look out for/avoid?

Basically I want to spend as little as possible, for a bit of fun experimentation, and I prefer older cameras with nice mechanical bits rather than auto wind on, auto focus gadgetry! :D
 
The nice old Nikon mechanical bodies still fetch very high prices. You won't get much change from £100 for a clean and nice Nikon FM, and the case is very similar with other models like the FE, FM2 and the F/F2/F3 are all still commanding premiums (and it appears to be going upwards every week).

Tatty Soviet cameras are cheap, full of metal but lots of them suffer from little niggles and problems, and I'm personally of the belief that they don't stand the test of time (especially things like light meters) as well as the Japanese SLRs of the 60s and 70s. However, some of the glass is still very respectable and many people buy them to mount on modern day SLRs, so clearly they must have done something right.

I have a DSLR and even though shooting with a film SLR is technically the same process of mirror up, shutter open, shutter close and mirror down, it is using the camera(s!) that differentiates and enhances the experience, and I know many people here would agree. Rangefinders are obviously something to look to as the 'alternative', and I'm a big fan of twin lens reflex cameras as both an alternative to SLRs and because shooting with a WLF (waist level viewfinder) is probably classed as "experimentation".

If you have some Nikon lenses, maybe this Nikon FM on Collectable Cameras for £59? http://www.collectablecameras.com/cameralist.htm

It's brassy (but old cameras look fantastic with a bit), new seals so it's ready to shoot and those Nikon bodies are superbly built and it would certainly satisfy the mechanical bits thing!
 
Soviet cameras are a bit like lomography type cameras, i.e rather unpredictable so if you are going to go down that road be prepared for that.

That said in many cases they offer a cheaper alternative to a big name brand. E.g I've got a FED 2 which is basically a Soviet clone of a Leica, similarly the Kiev 6x6's borrow (or steal) most of their design from early Hasselblads. Even with the crap construction and poor quality control that these cameras can suffer from some of the qualities of the cameras they're copied off carry over, so you can get something a bit like a Leica for a lot less.

Also the Soviet lens industry was pretty competent and they produced some really nice, if sometimes slightly quirky glass, which again is generally avaliable cheaply on places like e-bay.
 
Zent Helios 44M 58mm f2 lenses of any version (although the later multicoated ones are best) are fantastic lenses with great sharpness, contrast and resolution and they are usually fairly cheap as millions of them were made.
 
i have a Zenit EM myself and found it gives lovely pictures, i have afew versions of the Helios 44M but haven't done a proper test of one against the other i'm afraid, they gave lovely images though :)

the lightmeter worked okay on mine, i took it with a pinch of salt though :) i believe theres one for sale on here at the moment :) not sure what the rules of linking to sale threads are though so i'll let you find it yourself :)
 
Want top rate shots for peanuts? A praktica MTL5 SLR with meyer or Pentacon 50mm f1.8 for about £10 and you will be close to an expensive DSLR for sharpness and probably better for overall quality for colours etc.
 
Been there, done that... bought a Russian Zorki, proper old block of camera!!! Pain to load film, and rangefinder can be tough to focus but looks good and not too bad for an old camera.

Also have a Nikon FE, much more reliable and easier to use, having a light meter built in helps too. Good FE should be around £80
 
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